Have you ever noticed that some people cannot seem to pick up new information? This person struggles with what is going on, they get frustrated quickly and say quite often that they canít do it because that they are dumb.
Itís not true, they are not dumb, they are just being lazy.
I say lazy because this person does not understand what is being taught to them because they have decided that they donít want to know. Maybe they are not interested in what they have to learn, maybe they are afraid of failing or it could be a thousand other reasons.
The main issue is, is that this person refuses to concentrate on what is going on, and they say time and time again that they canít learn because they are dumb.
Saying that they are dumb is an excuse to get out of the work. They hope that they will be left to do their own devices.
So how do you get past this dumb defence? Itís not easy, but the one thing you cannot do is give in to it. You need to remain calm and focused and work with the person.
First you need to find out why they are not willing to learn what you are trying to teach. Maybe their bored, maybe they afraid of looking silly if they fail, or maybe they are just not interested in the subject. Whatever the reason you need to get past it with them.
The second thing you need to do is to make things interesting, break it into small steps and work with them. Encourage the person, praise them, and have a laugh at any mistakes. You will normally find that once the person has a few small successes in what they are doing will help to motivate them and you will be able to leave them alone to do their own learning.
Getting angry, yelling and telling them they are stupid will just work against you, they will pull back to their dumb defence and you will have lost them. Once you have lost somebody it takes an awful lot of work to get them back.
So when someone says that they are dumb, donít get angry with them, see it as a challenge to motivate them and to help them learn. The best way for you to be motivated or learn new material is to help somebody else be motivated or learn new material.

There are, in fact, some incredibly stupid people. Some of em are really hard workers, too - they are just too stupid to be able to make a go of anything.

Might not be the nicest fact in the world, but it's the plain honest truth.

There are, however, also people that just can't pick something up purely because they are afraid they can't. I dealt with tutoring many of them in College - once you got them used to the idea that their problem with learning something was their anxiety about learning it, they seemed to learn it rather smoothly.

I rather disagree. I personally dont believe intelligence can be measured; just ignorance.

I grew up in the mountains; and I know a good many "stupid" people. Guys who cant do 6th grade math, and are barely literate.

I've watched these same folks rebuild engines from scratch and install electrical systems on houses THEY built.

There is no such thing as stupidity, just knowledge and lack of knowledge. Certainly some people are better at things our society values, like management or number crunching.

Some people have an aptitude for learning or understanding different things better than other people. Thats all.

Its quite presumptuous to assume one self superior to another because you possess the talents our society most values. Just because a skill or aptitude cannot be monetized does not take away from its true value.

Real knowledge is to the know the extent of your own ignorance. With that, you can improve and better yourself.

Learn a little bit about how the human brain works; and then tell me that people are or are not inherently stupid. We form a denser "Neural Network" every time we read a book, study a subject, or attempt to learn something new. The denser our network, the faster the signals in our brain travel. The faster they travel, the more quickly we can absorb new information.

Some people lack vitals *Characteristics* to grow their own knowledge; yes-certainly. Some people are going to have an exceptionally difficult time learning a certain subject; also true. But no one is "Stupid" and stuck that way.

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." -Albert Einstein

In summary,

Some people are stupid. They dont learn because they dont want to learn

Because not wanting to learn show so much more intelligence? People who say 'i dont want to learn' are no different than bums that live on the street and say 'i dont want to work'. Usually they are just hiding their inability to learn (or work) behind a facade of indifference. In reality, they dont have the capacity and it frustrates them, thats why they dont keep trying to apply themselves.

People thinking that EVERYONE has the capacity to learn can be very frustrating and debilitating to those who can't. There are do gooders all over the place that insist that EVERYONE can learn.

There are just naturally those who are smarter than others. And those who are smarter will always be able to recognize that some people aren't. Some will get an attitude over it, some won't.

And a lack of education isn't a lack of natural sharps. It's just a lack of application of those smarts in certain fields. There are a lot of illiterate people - doesn't make them stupid, they just didn't learn to read. Sometimes that was laziness, other times they just had a different set of values and a different focus. As long as they apply themselves to something they are interested in and can do what they love to do well, those types get by just fine.

I was a dance teacher at one time in my life - as you know people in general have abilities and coordination to dance. The ability is built in to the average muscular and skeletal structure to be able to move in those ways. And at the dance studio, they would tell people that ANYONE can learn to dance. It's just not the damned truth no matter how PC we want to be. Some people just have no sense of rhythm or enough coordination to do so.

While it is great when a person learns to the best of their ability.........if you continue to push someone that does NOT have the ability you can do major damage to that person's esteem. Sometimes it's just better to drop the political correctness and the "do gooder" crap and let someone who just isn't as bright as others be not as bright as others. It doesn't mean they deserve less respect or care. There is SOMETHING that everyone can do and be valuable and take pride in. If everyone were rocket scientists we'd have a hard time filling positions that society needs someone to do but a person with high levels of intelligence would go nuts doing.

There's nothing wrong with admitting that some people are not as smart as others.

People thinking that EVERYONE has the capacity to learn can be very frustrating and debilitating to those who can't. There are do gooders all over the place that insist that EVERYONE can learn.

I never said everyone can learn everything; the center piece of my argument was that everyone is capable of becoming "intelligent" it simply depends on how you determine intelligence.

It's common knowledge that "Savants" are often stupid by other standards; to be cliche the rain man is a prime example. The guy cant tie his shoes or cook his own food but he certainly isnt "Stupid".

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There are just naturally those who are smarter than others. And those who are smarter will always be able to recognize that some people aren't. Some will get an attitude over it, some won't.

I guess this depends on perspective. If your smarter than someone else, does that mean their stupid-Or does it mean your smarter?

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I was a dance teacher at one time in my life - as you know people in general have abilities and coordination to dance. The ability is built in to the average muscular and skeletal structure to be able to move in those ways. And at the dance studio, they would tell people that ANYONE can learn to dance. It's just not the damned truth no matter how PC we want to be. Some people just have no sense of rhythm or enough coordination to do so.

I agree. Some people will never be a physicist, no matter how hard they try. Does that make them stupid?

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There's nothing wrong with admitting that some people are not as smart as others.

No, there isnt. I'm not argueing that everyone has an equal level of intelligence.

I guess my main point of contention is that people should not be categorically labeled as "Stupid" and "Not Stupid". Everyone, even the mentally handicapped (and I speak from experience) are capable of excelling at something.

Wether they choose to hone that ability is up to them. This entails labor, difficulty, and of course the discovery of that talent.

In our society we define ourselves by the ways we are superior to one another; this creates low expectations for people who simply haven't found their talent; or whose talent is considered "Worthless" by our society.

I'm not saying that our planet is full of Einsteins; I'm not "Stupid". I'm fully aware the the large majority of problems on this planet are caused by leaders (and their followers) who haven't the foggiest idea what their doing.

What bothers me, and why I have such a problem with superior attitudes is that its exactly that frame of mind that the leaders (and often their followers) who have caused so much pain in suffering throughout history have used to justify their actions.

I'll even admit that our society is on a downward spiral; The average persons comprehension of the world around them is shrinking.

I suppose I've refuted my own argument. Their are indeed people who fit that description. I suppose I'll change it then, to say that even "stupid" people are capable of great works of art and beautiful musical compositions (amongst countless other things).

I have to say that some people are just plain stupid. Today hubby and I drove over 3 hours to meet someone who was driving a long way as well. She called and told us that she was anxious to meet us so had left early. We were planning to meet up at a Wal-Mart (since they're easy to find) off of the interstate. So since she was so early and anxious to see us, my hubby tells her that if she wants she can just keep coming further and we'll meet her somewhere else or she can just stay where she is and we'll get there when we get there. A little while later we get a call from her...she had gotten off the interstate, gone to the Wal-Mart and kept driving AWAY from the interstate and wanted to know where we wanted to meet. WTF? How does that make sense? How did she not get that he meant to drive further down the interstate to meet us sooner, not drive further away so we have longer to drive? I don't know what she was thinking and I keep running it through my head trying to figure it out but the only thing I can think of is that she's just plain stupid.

Steve, I wonder what's the bigger disease in this world, stupidity or laziness?

I think my money is on laziness.

I see a lot of smart people standing in line for lottery tickets everyday.

Well, Einstein said something like... Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.Ē, but I guess I am betting on laziness ALSO! I would bet that for every really stupid person, there are at least 8 that are so lazy that even THEY think they are STUPID!

Of course, extreme lazyiness DOES CAUSE stupidity. An active mind has been found to be less likely to become senile! SO, in a way, they kind of BECOME right over time.

Put another bet on lazy.......at this rate that bet isn't going to pay off very well.

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Of course, extreme lazyiness DOES CAUSE stupidity. An active mind has been found to be less likely to become senile! SO, in a way, they kind of BECOME right over time.

I knew a guy like that, Steve. He was so lazy he refused to learn something because he was afraid if he knew how to do something someone would make him do some work. He was pitiful. He was so lazy that even his potential deteriorated over time.

As I pointed out earlier, too - a lot of people with few sharps are very hard workers. They have to try harder just to do the everyday things -- and they have the worst jobs, too, often physically taxing jobs. For those who learn easily, it's sometimes hard to relate to how hard some of these people really have to work just to reach remedial standards.

It seems the super intelligent work hard, too - but remember, things come more
easily for them to start with so it's really hard to say that they actually "work" harder than someone who's a bit mentally challenged.

My guess is the ones that are actually lazest, though, are those in the middle of the scale. Things come neither overly easy or overly hard to them and many just seem to be happy staying at the middle of the scale in every way.

It seems the super intelligent work hard, too - but remember, things come more
easily for them to start with so it's really hard to say that they actually "work" harder than someone who's a bit mentally challenged.

My guess is the ones that are actually lazest, though, are those in the middle of the scale. Things come neither overly easy or overly hard to them and many just seem to be happy staying at the middle of the scale in every way.

Well, use can make the difficult easy. Frankly, I can't stay still as long as people want me to. I wish I were more active, but I am not going to be one that just watches the world go by. Seriously, I have seen what extreme laziness can do.

You know this whole conversation has made me do a lot of thinking about
my own intelligence and what all of this really means.

I was tested to have an IQ of 148...yet, when some of you people start
talking about some of the things you talk about (especially you Sal) I feel
like an idiot.

The wealth of knowledge that some of you have about so many things just
boggles my mind.

Well, I am not belittling anyone's intelligence here, and certainly not your's or mine, but intelligence is often confused with knowledge. Intelligence is REALLY kind of the union of knowledge AND the ability to apply it. A computer can certainly know everything in recorded history, but it doesn't have any intelligence because it has no ability to APPLY it, outside of its programming.

The first paragraph of wikipedia's statement on this is:

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Intelligence is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn. There are several ways to define intelligence. In some cases, intelligence may include traits such as creativity, personality, character, knowledge, or wisdom. However there is no agreement on which traits define the phenomenon of intelligence agreed upon by a majority across the various concerned disciplines.

Dictionary.com says:

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in⋅tel⋅li⋅gence /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒəns/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [in-tel-i-juhns] Show IPA
Use intelligence in a Sentence
See web results for intelligence
See images of intelligence
Ėnoun 1. capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
2. manifestation of a high mental capacity: He writes with intelligence and wit.
3. the faculty of understanding.
4. knowledge of an event, circumstance, etc., received or imparted; news; information.
5. the gathering or distribution of information, esp. secret information.
6. Government. a. information about an enemy or a potential enemy.
b. the evaluated conclusions drawn from such information.
c. an organization or agency engaged in gathering such information: military intelligence; naval intelligence.

7. interchange of information: They have been maintaining intelligence with foreign agents for years.
8. Christian Science. a fundamental attribute of God, or infinite Mind.
9. (often initial capital letter) an intelligent being or spirit, esp. an incorporeal one, as an angel.

Out of 9 definitions, only 5 really talk about knowledge, and they aren't even in the top 3, though #1 alludes to it somewhat, AFTER speaking towards things that point more towards the ability to use it.

Hi my name is Kelvin, I agree with you on the idea that people are not really stupid but are lazy. This could be associated with the teaching that we recieved as kids and refuse to make any effort to reprograme our thought process.

Most of us seems to let others exprience of life become our reality, we want more but does not want to put any effort to improve ourselves and get more for out of life.

IQ tests have been shown to be pretty much useless as marker for intelligence for quite some time now.

The general intelligence tests only test 3-4 types of intelligence anyway. They have separated it to about 7 overall. And MANY "intelligence" tests, on the internet, etc..., only test like 1 type of intelligence. I recently saw one that tested ONLY spatial. It was interesting because some were SO absurdly simple that I doubt ANYONE could fail them. Coincidently, if you got ONLY those right, you would get about 100. SO, though most WOULD get 100, and some geniuses might get better scores, it was really rigged. Some geniuses might score only about average.

So the usefulness depends a LOT on the type of test. And NO, NONE of the intelligences tested have to do with culture or race, though they MAY require a fair experience with the language tested in. So a black, mexican, white, asian all have an equal chance. MAYBE an asian had a family that really studied math hard, and would do better on some. Maybe the mexican, or asian, didn't speak much english earlier, or the black might REALLY like "ebonics", and may do poorly on another. Otherwise, they have an EQUAL CHANCE! HEY, some WHITES do poorly at math, or have a limited vocabulary. Still, you can't throw out a test simply because it shows some have a problem.

Everybody can learn, and everybody is good at something. I can't fix air conditioners, but I can teach children about legal matters. So am I stupid bacuse I can fix the AC?

Well, like I said, knowledge doesn't correlate with intelligence. I had ONE call to an airconditioner guy, and learned enough to keep things running MYSELF! Well, a line on the pressure sensor periodically gets blocked. SOME never TRY to learn. I learned enough to solve even some other problems. I haven't called them since, outside of installing a checkvalve. I WOULD have done THAT, but it needed to be done FAST, I couldn't find a proper size valve, etc...

I don't necessarily believe people are outright dumb or stupid, but rather, ignorant of information that can inspire them. People are lazy because they do not have the selfish motivation that moves them.

People with out motivation are not stupid just because you have motivation. How do you measure intelligence? Through at set of contrived questions?

I know a lot of people that can not read or write, yet they can work hard and know more about farming proceedures than I will ever know. I would not consider them hicks or dumb farmers.

Lazy people dont want to learn what you are trying to teach them. Thats not stupid. And as a teacher I will tell you, just like I tell my students, that school is not the most important thing in life.

Learning is important. Learning how to be successful in your choosen area is very important.

Given a chance even the laziest person in the world will be motivated to learn about something that they are interested in. Just becasue it doesn't make them rich, money wise, does not make them stupid.

People with out motivation are not stupid just because you have motivation. How do you measure intelligence? Through at set of contrived questions?

I know a lot of people that can not read or write, yet they can work hard and know more about farming proceedures than I will ever know. I would not consider them hicks or dumb farmers.

Lazy people dont want to learn what you are trying to teach them. Thats not stupid. And as a teacher I will tell you, just like I tell my students, that school is not the most important thing in life.

Learning is important. Learning how to be successful in your choosen area is very important.

Given a chance even the laziest person in the world will be motivated to learn about something that they are interested in. Just becasue it doesn't make them rich, money wise, does not make them stupid.

How WRONG can you be!?!?!?!? I have seen some LOUSY "teachers" but MAN, YOU TAKE THE CAKE!!!!!! And YEAH, not learning how to read even the language that you speak is PRETTY DUMB!